Blog

Lollapalooza Celebrates 25th Anniversary

The very first Lollapalooza took place 25 years ago! To celebrate, we decided to take a look back at the history of Lollapalooza and the many changes that have occurred over the years.

Lollapalooza was created in 1991 by the lead singer of Jane’s Addiction, Perry Farrell. The idea behind Lollapalooza was to bring new types of music to fans all around the country, while promoting lesser-known bands by creating a line-up of small bands with major headliners.

The event was originally a touring festival that traveled around the country. In fact, the first Lollapalooza doubled as Jane’s Addiction’s farewell tour. The first show took place at Lake Fairfax fairgrounds in Virginia with a ticket cost of $35. Performances included music genres such as alternative, metal, and rap. The festival continued annually until 1998. Lollapalooza stopped that year due to the inability to secure a headliner for the event.

In 2003, Farrell tried to bring Lollapalooza back with Jane’s Addiction. However, in 2004, the festival had to be canceled due to low tickets sales. Chicago showed a great deal of interest in Lollapalooza that year, so in 2005 the festival was revamped and it was brought to Chicago’s Grant Park.

Over the years, Lollapalooza has been expanded to four other countries. In 2011, Chile became home to the first Lollapalooza festival to take place outside of the United States. In 2012, Brazil hosted its first Lollapalooza. Argentina welcomed Lollapalooza in 2014, and Berlin had its first Lollapalooza in 2015.